Unhinged (10 page)

Sebastian

I ended up having
dinner out that night, choosing not to face my father’s wrath. I’d pushed him
too far and I didn’t want to deal with the repercussions. Not to mention, I
didn’t want to put Aaliyah through that either.

That and my curiosity
was going to get the best of me if I had to listen to Conrad talk about Payton
over dinner one more time. He would do it too, just to irritate me.

One of these days, I
was going to lose my shit and it wasn’t going to matter who ended up as
collateral damage. Where Payton was concerned, I was a ticking time bomb. It
was as though I needed my next fix. I was a junkie, an addict. I wanted a woman
I knew very little about and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t understand
what the fuck it was about her that had me so obsessed.

I was slowly going
crazy.

I wanted to know more
about her. No, scratch that, I wanted to know
everything
about her.
Where was she from? How old was she? What did she look like naked?

I was definitely
interested in the last part.

So, instead of risking
a slip of the tongue in front of my father, I was sitting at a sports bar,
watching hockey and drinking beer with my two closest friends, Leif Connelly
and Toby Brindle.

“Man, are you picturing
some chick naked?” Leif questioned, lifting his beer bottle in my direction.

“I was thinkin’ the
same thing,” Toby added in that slow, southern drawl that drew women like a
magnet.

“Shut up, assholes,” I
mumbled, hating how well they knew me.

Okay, so yes, I was
picturing Payton naked. Didn’t mean I had to share my thoughts with anyone, let
alone the two people who would harass me until I wanted to punch them in the
face simultaneously.

“Who is she?” Leif
asked.

“No one,” I barked.

“Right. ’Cause ‘
no
one’
makes you drool when you picture her naked,” Toby inserted, smiling
around the lip of his beer bottle.

“Did I mention you
could… fuck off,” I bit out, unable to keep from smiling.

It wasn’t a secret that
I didn’t spend my time with many women. Oh, there’d been a few, sure. After
all, I wasn’t a saint. But nothing serious.

Not that I didn’t find
women fascinating, nor was it due to the fact that I didn’t have my fair share
of female attention. But I’d learned early on, thanks to who my family was,
that women tended to see dollar signs when they found out where I lived. I
didn’t make a habit of bringing women to the estate, but there had been a
handful. Needless to say, the caliber of female that I usually attracted were
more interested in what they could get
from
me rather than what they
could do
with
me. If that wasn’t a turnoff, I don’t know what was.

“So now you’ve got
imaginary girlfriends? What the hell is this world coming to?” Leif razzed
good-naturedly.

“Who the hell are you
tryin’ to kid?” Toby snorted. “He’s always had imaginary girlfriends.”

I knew Leif and Toby
would give me a hard time. They always did. Didn’t matter that Leif usually got
the waterfall of women that I left in my wake or that Toby had his hands full on
nearly a nightly basis. We were usually together, which meant when one girl
arrived, there were normally two more not far behind. Sometimes more than that.
Chicks loved Leif and Toby, which, according to them, were their reasons behind
their playboy statuses.

I’d known Leif since I
was fourteen, since my first day in a new school when I was pissed off and
hated the world. Leif had been my saving grace, I guess you could say. He
hadn’t taken any of my shit when I wanted to do nothing more than fight with anyone
who crossed my path. His ability to ignore my bullshit was the main reason we’d
become friends. That and he was as much of an adrenaline junkie as I was. The
only point of contention between the two of us was that he had the hots for my
sister, something I wasn’t particularly fond of. So far, I’d managed to keep
the two of them apart, although it was getting harder and harder these days.

But I didn’t want to
think about Leif and Aaliyah. Not now. Not ever.

As for Toby, we met our
freshman year of high school. I’d smoked him in a street race, but rather than
threaten to kick my ass like a lot of assholes did, Toby shook my hand. We’d
been friends ever since.

“She’s not imaginary,”
I grumbled, sipping my beer. I rested my forearms on the table and picked at
the label on my bottle, trying to keep my head down.

Leif twisted in his
chair to face me directly. “So there
is
a girl?”

“Of course, there’s a
girl,” Toby declared, looking not at all shocked.

“No,” I lied. “Ain’t no
damn girl.” No reason to get Leif all worked up. He was always giving me shit
about dating. I tended not to do it by design.

“So, I saw your father
on TV again today.” Leif looked at me and then glancing over at Toby, mischief
gleaming in his dark brown eyes.

I leaned back in my
chair, tipping it onto two legs. While I watched Leif and Toby, I tilted my
beer bottle to my lips, contemplating whether or not I wanted to know where
this was going. Instead of answering, I cocked an eyebrow at him.

“I have to rescind my
original statement about Conrad’s new assistant. She’s not just hot. She’s
fucking
hot.”

Toby laughed. “And the
difference is…?”

Dropping my chair back
onto all four legs, I stared at Leif. Okay, he’d effectively gotten my
attention. I purposely ignored Toby.

“Let’s just say… I’d do
her.”

I growled. It wasn’t
something I could have controlled. I didn’t even realize the deep rumble had
come from me until Leif’s eyes widened.

“Chill, man. I’m
kidding. But she is hot,” Leif tacked on, smirking as he sipped his beer.

“Good for her.” My tone
was snide, and I realized it was too late to pretend I wasn’t interested in
Conrad’s new assistant. If anyone saw through me, it was Leif.

“Just think, if you do
her, you’ll piss your father off for good,” Toby blurted, evidently oblivious
to the tension radiating from me.

I scowled at Toby, my
anger nearly getting the best of me. As it was, I hadn’t been able to stop
thinking about Payton for a fucking week, but the idea of using her to piss off
my old man didn’t sit well with me. Not at all.

Leif laughed, tipping
his own beer bottle to his lips as he studied me. “He’s kidding, man.”

The hell he was.
“Comedy isn’t your strong suit,” I snapped, downing what was left of my beer.

When Toby didn’t say
anything more, I squeezed my beer bottle between my hands, turning my attention
to Leif. He knew I wanted to know what the fuck he was talking about. Not just
about Payton, but the press conference that clearly went on without me knowing.
Again.

So I waited none too
patiently.

“Your father was making
a statement about a donation to the children’s hospital. She was there with
him. Not that he introduced her, but the media made a big deal out of it.”

A donation. Right.

As for the media making
a big deal out of Conrad’s new assistant, I could understand why. I had the
pleasure of meeting her, I knew what the draw was. But they made a big deal
about every damn thing when it came to my father. Especially the local news. My
father did a lot for the Austin area, I’d give him that. He made generous
donations to various charities and he’d even sponsored a new children’s
hospital. All in the name of charity.

Right.

Because Conrad Trovato
was so fucking charitable.

But I doubted that was
the reason the media had grabbed the story. They were always looking to dig up
dirt on my father. One of these days, they were going to dig just deep enough
and Conrad’s world was going to crumble around him.

I hoped I was there to
see it.

“Have you met her yet?”
Toby asked.

“Who?” I pretended not
to know what they were talking about.

Thankfully our waitress
arrived before either of them could continue. She delivered the wings Leif had ordered,
then slid a plate of nachos in front of Toby, and I asked for another beer.
After Leif had hit on her, she walked off, hopefully remembering my beer.

“I take that as a no,”
Leif said, staring at me.

“No,” I lied.

I knew better than to
tell them that yes, I’d met her. That I’d led her to believe that I was a
mechanic who worked for Conrad. Or that I’d almost kissed her. They didn’t need
to know that.

Payton had no idea who
I really was and probably never would. Just because she worked for my father,
the chances of ever actually seeing her again were slim to none. Especially
when it seemed Conrad was planning to stand in my way.

Not wanting to dwell on
that depressing thought, I turned my attention back to the hockey game,
ignoring that knowing smirk on Leif’s face and the way Toby chuckled under his
breath.

Assholes.

Payton

“Why do you insist on
dragging me here every Thursday night?” I questioned Chloe as she, quite
literally, dragged me toward the door of
Instant Replay
, the downtown
Austin sports bar that she had turned into our Thursday night hangout.

“How many times do I
have to tell you? There are hot guys who come here on Thursday night.”

“I’m sure they come
here every night. Hot guys, that is,” I argued as I pretended to resist.

In truth, I welcomed a
night of beer and hockey. After the week that I’d had, I was ready for a cold
one. Or three.

Mr. Trovato had been in
rare form ever since I walked through the door on Monday morning. Although I
had arrived at five a.m., I found him already in his office, a cup of coffee on
his desk. I think he had expected me to apologize for not being able to read
his mind and show up an hour earlier than I normally did. A little rattled, I
had gone on with my day, business as usual. More than once I had caught him
staring at me, but it wasn’t one of those creepy old guy stares. It was more
like he was trying to figure me out.

If that wasn’t bad
enough, Conrad had taken to asking me questions. Not too personal, but
definitely more so than I expected. When did I graduate? Did I enjoy school?
Did my parents live close by? Did I see them often? Was I dating the guy I came
to the party with? Was it serious?

Those were the
questions he’d plied me with throughout the week and then some. It wasn’t that
I minded talking to him, but I definitely noticed a change in his demeanor. He
was treating me differently. I had wondered if it had something to do with
Sebastian, although, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how. I just
remembered the look on Mr. Trovato’s face when I left his party with Aaron in
tow. I hadn’t imagined it, I knew that much.

It wasn’t like I had
seen Sebastian again since then. I hadn’t had any reason to go to the Trovato
estate and though I had dreamed about him showing up at the office, I didn’t
see any reason for him to do that either.

Aaron had done his best
to keep me preoccupied through the week, showing up at the apartment with
dinner each night, sometimes with Mark. He even stayed long enough to watch TV
with Chloe and me. I knew that Chloe was curious, but I had managed to blow her
off, giving her just enough details to curb her curiosity without revealing
what had really happened.

Aaron, bless him,
hadn’t blabbed either.

Since the day after the
party, we hadn’t talked about Sebastian. No one. Not me. Not Aaron. Not Chloe.
I think Aaron was worried about me, but I could have assured him that he had no
reason to. I’d moved on. I don’t know what had transpired between the two of us
out on the veranda that night, but it was over and done. Thinking about Sebastian
wasn’t doing me any good.

I shook off the thought
of him as I reached for the restaurant’s front door when Chloe held it open.

Chloe and I walked
inside the sports bar and one of the waitresses immediately greeted us by name,
reaching for two menus before walking us to a table in the far corner. I
glanced around as I walked, realizing the place was busier than usual. My gaze
traveled up to one of the televisions on the wall as I walked.

Ahh… That explained it.

The Dallas Stars were
playing the Nashville Predators. Always a good game to watch. I, myself, was a
huge hockey fan, something I’d taken to because of my father. When I was
younger, we always went to games, mostly to Dallas to see the Stars play
because my dad was a diehard fan.

I bumped into Chloe
when she stopped, my attention still on the television. Smiling and shrugging,
I then waited for her to pick a seat
—
the woman was anal when it came to which chair she would take at the table.
Just one of her many quirks. This time it only took her five seconds to figure
it out, which was probably a record for her. I quickly hung my purse on the
chair between us, choosing to sit across from her. I retrieved my cell phone
before sitting down and facing my friend. Chloe was already perusing the menu,
spouting off things that sounded good to her.

No way could I eat that
and not gain ten pounds, but my friend, she could eat anything and not gain an
ounce. Have I mentioned that I hated her for that?

“What do you think?”

“About?”

“Food, Payton.
Food.
Why do you think we came here?” Chloe asked, her eyes boring holes into me.

“I thought it was for
the hot guys.” I pretended to be confused.

“Well, there is that.” Her
gaze migrated slowly around the room.

I didn’t bother to look
around. I knew what I’d see. The place was a hangout for the younger crowd.
Being that Austin was a college town, you didn’t have to walk very far before
you bumped into at least one college student. Or ten.

The waitress returned
with a huge smile on her face. Chloe rattled off her order in rapid succession
and I waited my turn. When she was finally finished, I smiled up at the
waitress and said, “I’ll have a Corona Light with lime and I’ll pick off her
plate.”

Chloe grumbled from
across the table.

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay
for half.”

“I’m not worried about
that,” Chloe said softly. “I’m worried about you eating half my food. I’m
starving.”

“You’re always starving.”

Chloe grinned and I
knew what she was about to ask before the words even tumbled out of her mouth.
The gleam in her green eyes told me everything.

“When are you gonna
tell me more about that mechanic you met last week? Was he at the party?”

Yep. That was the
question I was hoping to avoid.

I should have known
that her silence on the subject matter had been too good to be true. As
hush-hush as I’d wanted to be where Sebastian was concerned, I had been drunk
when I came home on Friday night. When Aaron brought me inside, I’d resorted to
thinking aloud, bitching and moaning about The Mechanic as I liked to refer to
him. Chloe had been there. I think she suspected that something had happened
the night of the party, but for whatever reason, she had let it go.

Obviously not
completely though.

She had brought it up
tonight when I got home, but because she had been ready to go out by then, I
had used the fact that I needed to change as an excuse. I had again dodged her
in the car, encouraging Chloe to tell me about her day and I’d hoped she
wouldn’t bring it back up. After all, it had been a brief lapse on my part. I should
have never mentioned him to her in the first place.

But I should have known
that Chloe wouldn’t let it go.

“He was hot and he was
a mechanic,” I told her, letting her believe that the only time I’d seen him
was the first day I met him. I definitely didn’t want to tell her about our
interaction at the party. “What more is there to say?”

“Uhh… Plenty. You can
start by telling me why you don’t want to talk about him,” she stated, thanking
the waitress when she placed the beers on the table.

Ah. So she noticed.

“Nothing to talk about.
It’s not like I go around talking about people’s mechanics.”

“Conrad Trovato really
has a mechanic that works at his house? How much freaking money does this guy
have?” she asked.

I could tell she was
humoring me.

“Too much,” I answered,
going right along with her. If she could fake it, so could I.

But that statement took
me back to that day. The day I met the man who had plagued my dreams before I
ever met him. The same guy who had haunted my dreams for nights on end ever
since. I had thought it strange, when I’d finally given it any thought at all,
that Mr. Trovato had a personal mechanic that worked at his house. Even more so
when I saw him at the party. He wasn’t just a mechanic. I knew that much.

“What did he look
like?”

“Hot.” I wished she
would just let it go.

As it was, I could
still picture him in my head, all tall and sexy with the tats and the
piercings. Then the image of him in that tux would flutter through my head. All
of the tats had been covered that night, but the piercings had been visible. I
even found myself daydreaming about what he looked like without his shirt on,
something I hadn’t had the opportunity to see.

Unfortunately.

Did he have tattoos
everywhere?

“I got that part,”
Chloe said, interrupting my thoughts. “But what did he
look
like?”

“Tall, brown hair,
brown eyes,” I explained, pretending it was nothing. It was something all right
because his eyes still mesmerized me, from my damn dreams. Realizing I was
grinning from ear to ear, I added, “But his piercings...”

Don’t ask me why I was
going along with this. I was getting caught up in the moment and I didn’t want
to admit that talking about him made me feel better.

“In his face? Oh, God,
that’s hot.”

Yes, it was. “Eyebrow
and lip,” I told her.

“What about his tongue?
Was his tongue pierced?”

“How would I know?” I
asked, exasperated. “I didn’t get near his mouth.”

Not close enough to
find out if he had his tongue pierced anyway. I kept that little tidbit of info
to myself.

“But you wanted to,
huh?” She nudged me in the arm.

Sometimes I thought
Chloe acted more like a guy than a girl. Especially when it came to talking
about the opposite sex. It could have been the fact that Chloe had four
brothers, all of which were just like her. Or maybe she was just like them. I
didn’t know.

“He was hot. Can we
just leave it at that?”

“Do you think you’ll go
back to Mr. Trovato’s house?”

“Why in the world would
I do that?”

“Oh, I don’t know.
Maybe because you need your car serviced?”

“If that’s some kind of
sexual innuendo, you suck at them.”

Chloe was grinning.

The two of us sat there
for a moment, our eyes glued to the television. Three minutes into the third
period and the Stars were up by two. I didn’t really care who won. I wasn’t
partial to either team like my dad was. It wasn’t until the waitress brought
our food out that I turned my attention back to Chloe.

It was then that my
night took a very interesting turn.